Bristol City verdict: Struber's monsters make statement as 'pain in the backside' stands tall

Bristol Live’s stand-out talking points from Bristol City’s 3-1 Championship win over Will Still and Southampton at Ashton Gate

Dan Carter is the Bristol City reporter at Bristol Live. He joined the title in November 2024 having previously been a football reporter at Breaking Media. Before that, he was a sports journalism student at the University of Gloucestershire where he also covered the Robins whilst on placement. In his role, he wants to keep supporters informed with the latest news in and around Ashton Gate whether that be on matchdays, during transfer windows or everything in between.

Scott Twine and Zak Vyner celebrate in Bristol City’s win over Southampton(Image: EFL)

In the moments after the full-time whistle confirmed Bristol City’s win over Southampton at Ashton Gate, Neto Borges, Leo Pecover, and Zak Vyner all made their way over to Section 82. Individually, each player led the fans packed into the corner of the stadium through a chorus of cheers to celebrate what felt like an important three points in south Bristol.

At the other end of the ground, Saints boss Will Still and his players faced up to the Atyeo Stand to applaud the travelling supporters who had made the trip from the South Coast. Unlike the Reds, they were not greeted by cheers; with boos and criticism instead echoing out onto the pitch.

In truth, a little over an hour before, few inside BS3 could have predicted such a picture come the full-time whistle. For half an hour of the first half, it looked like there would only ever be one winner as Southampton dominated possession, threatened from wide areas, and asked questions of Radek Vitek.

City weathered the early storm, but one slight lapse saw them fall behind, with a smart Shea Charles pass splitting Rob Atkinson and Borges on its way through to Adam Armstrong. The calmest man in the stadium took his time before dinking the ball past Vitek and into the back of the net to hand the away side a well-deserved lead.

That goal seemed to be the spark Gerhard Struber’s side required, however. Three minutes later, they were level as a deflected through ball from Rob Dickie bounced its way into the path of Anis Mehmeti, who made no mistake with his right-footed shot. Despite spending so much of the half on the back foot, the Robins entered the break level.

The start of the second period followed a similar pattern as Leo Scienza rattled the bar for the Saints and Charles headed over from close range, but just before the hour mark, a bit of good fortune saw the Reds pull ahead. Vyner’s shot from the edge of the area deflected off Sinclair Armstrong and onto the post to leave Scott Twine with the simplest of finishes from close range, and City’s number 10 wasn’t done there.

Seven minutes later, the points were sewn up as the 25-year-old latched onto a loose back-pass and broke the length of the Saints’ half, before chipping a delightful left-footed shot over Alex McCarthy. Having rode their punches in the first half, the Reds stood tall to claim a first Ashton Gate win in four matches.

Naturally, the quick turnaround means that attention very quickly turns to the visit of Birmingham City on Saturday afternoon. We’re not ready to move on from Tuesday night’s fireworks yet, though, so here are the stand-out talking points from City’s 3-1 win over Southampton…

A statement Bristol City win at Ashton Gate

In my verdict after Saturday’s game at Carrow Road, I wrote that for Bristol City, the three points gained against Norwich City felt like more than just a regular win. Because of the circumstances around that match and the emotion of both the players and supporters heading to East Anglia, it felt like the Reds proved a point to their former boss with both their display and the result.

Tuesday night’s meeting with Southampton was much less about emotion and much more of an opportunity to make a different sort of statement. Yes, the Saints haven’t started the season in the way that most expected, but they were viewed by most as one of the favourites for promotion this term, having been relegated from the Premier League last time out. A win against them would show that Gerhard Struber’s side are here to be taken seriously.

For 30 minutes or so, Southampton’s recent top-flight status couldn’t have been more obvious. Will Still’s side had the Robins’ backs to the wall and were more than worthy of their lead when Adam Armstrong opened the scoring. Supporters would have been forgiven for thinking that was game, set, and match before the half-time whistle had even been blown.

But mere moments later, Anis Mehmeti had levelled and the tide seemed to turn. Yes, Still will suggest his side shot themselves in the foot as they missed chances to pull back ahead and helped Scott Twine to his second-half brace, but the Robins changed things slightly and turned the screw to ultimately romp to all three points.

Barring those first 30 minutes, Struber’s boys were reasonably comfortable against a team that had only lost two of their first 10 league matches this term. Perhaps the good times in BS3 over the course of the last 12 months or so have spoiled us, but that shouldn’t be brushed aside as nothing special. Despite their well-documented injury woes, the Robins are again managing to punch above their weight.

Although it is too early for anyone to be paying too much attention to the Championship table – where City reside in fourth at the time of writing – the Reds have now gone toe to toe with each of Sheffield United, Ipswich Town, and Southampton this season. Even if all three teams haven’t yet hit the heights expected of them, for those watching from the stands and the dugout, that fact alone is a rather exciting one.

Bristol City looking to build on last season’s play-off finish under Gerhard Struber and you won’t miss a beat with our free newsletter.

All the latest news, views, interviews, gossip and analysis concerning the Robins, delivered straight to your inbox.

It’s completely free and you can sign up HERE

“I would say the season is, right now, young,” Struber explained post-match. “But of course, we can see a little bit more branding from us: how is our identity, how are things working, and when you win away in Norwich and win at home against Southampton, I would say we are on the right way, but nothing more.

“We know we have a lot of things for our chest that we have to improve, but how we deal today with this quality from them shows me the boys are really ready for more.”

Gerhard Struber’s team of ‘monsters’

If you are a regular listener of Gerhard Struber’s press conferences, you will have likely noticed that the Bristol City boss has a fair few buzzwords he often uses in interviews. Perhaps the most commonly heard is “sexy,” but the Austrian also tends to label players he likes as “interesting” and describes challenges ahead of his side as “for their chest.”

In his post-match debrief on Tuesday evening, however, the Robins head coach used all three of those phrases sparingly, and instead, it was another word that cropped up over and over again: “Monster.”

When he was asked about Scott Twine’s goals from open play this term, Struber remarked, “Twiney is not only a free-kick monster, he is a really good transition player.” On Sinclair Armstrong’s appearance from the bench, the head coach said, “In forward runs, he is a really big monster.” Finally, whilst discussing Rob Atkinson and his start to the season, he said, “He’s a monster… in a good way.”

Now, that may seem like a set of throwaway descriptors from someone describing players in their second language, but it speaks volumes about the makeup of this current City squad and the way in which they play. Whilst Liam Manning labelled his Norwich City side “too nice” after the Reds’ win at Carrow Road on the weekend, Struber feels he has a team of monsters that – at their best – can make it hard for any team to beat them.

Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber celebrates after the Robins’ win over Southampton(Image: EFL)

From back to front against the Saints, each and every player battled to first keep the Robins in the game, then to quickly pull themselves level, and then to take the game away from Southampton. Radek Vitek, Atkinson, Rob Dickie, and George Tanner’s displays in the backline were inspired and committed. Zak Vyner, Adam Randell, Mark Sykes, and Neto Borges worked their socks off to disrupt Will Still’s side and the front three of Anis Mehmeti, Twine, and Emil Riis – then later Armstrong – hustled and harried to make the most of the chances that fell their way.

Yes, you need moments of quality like all three goals to win matches, but claiming all three points becomes an awful lot easier when you have 11 players on the field at any one time who are willing to leave absolutely everything out on the field.

To you or me, commitment may feel like the bare minimum, but I would encourage you to look back at the last two sides City have faced before jumping to that conclusion. Both Will Still and Manning have been forced to answer questions about the mentality within their changing room in the last few days, whilst Struber has been able to wax lyrical about his monsters.

The togetherness, unity, and hard-working nature of this squad took them an awfully long way last term. It doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere under their new head coach, so who knows where they could end up with that sprinkling of added quality?

Sinclair Armstrong a ‘pain in the backside’

It feels only right that one of those aforementioned monsters gets a special mention in this verdict. Few Bristol City players have been spoken about as much as Sinclair Armstrong since the striker arrived at Ashton Gate from Queens Park Rangers last summer, with it fair to say he has more than divided opinion amongst supporters.

Only last week, the Robins’ hierarchy faced questions during the Reds’ fans forum surrounding the Ireland international’s future in BS3, with Brian Tinnion admitting that, so far, the forward hadn’t quite made the desired impact in red and white.

Since that forum, and the October international break, however, Armstrong has looked a different player in cameo appearances against both Norwich and now Southampton. I won’t go over old ground when it comes to the win at Carrow Road – that was covered in the weekend’s verdict – but the substitute’s display against the Saints on Tuesday evening was one of the brightest sparks on a pretty special evening for Gerhard Struber’s side.

Taking to the field in place of Emil Riis just eight minutes into the second half, the 22-year-old didn’t give Southampton’s backline a moment’s peace as he diligently ran the channels, held the ball up, linked play, and drew fouls in a manner that got the entirety of Ashton Gate behind him and drew the attention of Will Still.

Sinclair Armstrong battles for the ball during Bristol City’s win over Southampton(Image: Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

“They bring their striker on; he’s an absolute unit and a pain in the backside to defend against,” the Saints boss said in his post-match press conference. “We haven’t quite got that outlet.”

Though it was rather fortunate, he played a crucial role in Scott Twine’s first goal as Zak Vyner’s shot inadvertently deflected off him and onto the post to give the attacking midfielder a simple finish. Late in the second half, Armstrong couldn’t have come much closer to his first of the season himself, when he forced a smart save from Alex McCarthy with a powerful, low, right-footed effort.

With the Ireland international at the top end of the pitch instead of Riis, City managed to carry just as much of an attacking threat, if not a greater one, something which couldn’t be said a matter of weeks ago.

Struber and his coaching staff need the former QPR man to be an able deputy for the Danish forward because they cannot rely on Riis to play every minute of every game. Whether or not Armstrong was capable of filling such a role was open to debate before the international break, but with his last two showings, he’s shown he can step up.

If he continues to play like that, the goals surely won’t be too far behind.

Special day for the Bristol City academy

I’m going to end this verdict on a bit of a fluffy note, because why not? Tuesday night’s game at Ashton Gate was a truly special evening for everyone associated with Bristol City, primarily because of the result but also because of some milestones that were reached on the pitch.

With his start against the Saints, Zak Vyner became City’s record Championship appearance maker, overtaking previous record holder Marvin Elliott as he played in the second tier for the 219th time in red and white.

Bristol City Live on Whatsapp

Join Bristol City Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone

Bristol City Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.

Through the app, we’ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.

To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.

We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.

To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.

If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to join our WhatsApp community.

For an academy graduate who first broke into the Robins’ first team almost a decade ago to secure such a record is a testament to both Vyner himself and the pathway at Ashton Gate. The goal of every academy up and down the country is to produce stalwarts for the first team, and in the 27-year-old Gerhard Struber has exactly that, whether it be in the middle of the park or central defence.

It was also great to see the versatile defender honoured by the club and the supporters. It often feels as though Vyner goes under the radar as one of the Reds’ own for reasons that aren’t exactly clear. However, for him to share a moment with Section 82 after the full-time whistle and be presented with a commemorative shirt by Louis Carey – a man he watched feature in the play-off final at Wembley as a child – showed just what he means to this football club. Now, there’s just the small matter of that contract.

As well as the celebrations for Vyner, Tuesday evening saw Leo Pecover make his debut for the Robins, and in the process, he became the first academy graduate to debut for City since Elijah Morrison in April 2024, a year and a half ago.

Since he set foot inside Ashton Gate, Struber has been keen to stress his desire to utilise the academy pathway in BS3. That is an easy thing for a manager to claim, but a much harder thing to do in a division where the standard is so high and the margins are so fine.

Blooding some of City’s own has been something the hierarchy and the High Performance Centre have been desperate to do more of in recent years. Though it is just a start, it is excellent to see Struber remain true to his word. Hopefully, Pecover will be the first of many to make their maiden appearance under Struber.

OPINION

Bristol City verdict: Struber’s monsters make statement as ‘pain in the backside’ stands tall

Tags: